Just because someone proposes we trade down doesn't mean he's saying we should do it right now. These things never usually happen until you're actually on the clock (unless your name is Terry Bradway or Daniel Snyder).
Overall if Hawk, Ryans, and Greenway are off the board by #16, I don't see all that many compelling reasons to stay at #16. If Jimmy Williams or Mario Williams is still on the board...then obviously that changes things. If the staff becomes true believers in Eric Winston, Marcus McNeil, or Winston Justice...maybe that keeps them at 16 but otherwise I see no compelling reasons to stay. I mean, why stay at 16 if Ryans, Greenway, and Hawk are gone (and lets suppose Cutler is gone too)?
At OT you'd have a shot at Winston Justice, Eric Winston, or Marcus McNeil...whichever of the three grades highest probably will be gone already. That probably means McNeil. At QB there's nobody left. We probably decide now isn't a great time to invest a 1st in a WR, TE, RB, MLB, or DE/OLB. The compelling leftovers are Michael Huff and Laron Landry, maybe Claude Wroten or Rod Wright, the OTs, and that's it. None of those guys pop out to me as guys we need to get at 16. Huff should go at 16, but if Huff grades at 16 and Landry grades lower, why not trade lower and shoot for Landry? He could start and be the secondary's signal caller immediately as a rookie. Most teams pay their rookies for a year to sit the bench and not do a whole lot (ehem, Roth). We'd be paying Landry to play the same way he did at LSU under Nick. As for Wroten and Wright, are they that much better than Bunkley or is it that unlikely that we'd miss out on them if we traded lower? Heck do we even really want them, since Kyle Williams is really the guy at LSU that plays the NT position where we need depth?
IMO, its going to break down this way. I don't think Houck is going to make the decision that he wants a first round OT. Maybe 2nd or 3rd, but not 1st. Mario and Jimmy Williams are fantastic talents that SHOULD NOT fall, but if they do, they're immediately on our board. AJ Hawk will be gone. The chances of him falling to us at 16 are about as great as Leinart falling to us at 16. Demeco Ryans and Chad Greenway are linebacker talents that stack up with any linebacker taken in the draft over the last 10 years (excluding only Arrington), so they would be worth it. Jay Cutler's a wild card just because I don't know what those coaches really think of drafting a QB at #16. So, in the end I see us taking Mario Williams, Jimmy Williams, Demeco Ryans, Chad Greenway, Jay Cutler, trading down, Laron Landry, or Michael Huff...in that order.
He is the toughest competitor on the field come game time and he is a leader, and what awful decisons? The ones that led his team to be 12-0?
